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The head of estate agent Knight Frank has hit out at plans to charge higher stamp duty on overseas purchases of UK homes, warning the move will hammer the property market.

Alistair Elliott, who chairs the partnership, said he was open to measures to tackle the effect of foreign speculators on the market but said “another levy on top of a very high level for our market is not the answer”.

Plans for the new charge were unveiled by Theresa May at last week’s Conservative Party conference.

Mr Elliott said: “What we all know we need is a broader London offering but we’re not going to get that under any circumstances by increasing transaction charges. All we’re going to get is slower volumes and less...